Iowa Football Needs To Steer Clear Of Two-QB Attack, Stick With Jake Rucock

By Tyler Fenwick

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

It looks like the Iowa Hawkeyes are going to take a page out of the Indiana Hoosiers‘ 2013 playbook and try a two-quarterback system this season. Junior quarterback Jake Rudock was the starter last season, but the Hawkeyes are wanting to also utilize the play-making ability of sophomore C.J. Beathard. Head coach Kirk Ferentz is a smart football man, so why is he trying to fix something that isn’t broken?

The clear argument here is that Iowa is simply wanting to get Beathard into the game in any way possible. He’s clearly the better runner of the two, and his arm is even stronger than Rudock’s, though less accurate.

After taking a redshirt in 2011 and not seeing any action in 2012, Rudock emerged as Iowa’s starter last season for all 13 games and led the Hawkeyes to a three-game winning streak to close out the regular season before putting up a great fight against LSU in the Outback Bowl. Completing 59 percent of his passes for 2,383 yards and 18 touchdowns, Rudock clearly gave Iowa a viable option at quarterback moving forward, despite throwing 13 interceptions.

With a full season under his belt as the unchallenged starter for Iowa, Rudock is going to be a more productive, consistent passer for the Hawkeyes in 2014. No matter what Ferentz decides to do with the offense, Rudock is the No. 1 guy. Tossing Beathard into the mix just doesn’t make sense.

If Rudock is clearly showing signs of struggle a couple games into the season, that’s the time to bring in Beathard and see what happens. But with a potentially successful year on the line for Iowa in 2014, this isn’t the time to start seeing what other options would look like. This is the time to stick with the quarterback who has proven himself.

At Big 10 Media Day, offensive coordinator Greg Davis admitted he has no idea what this two-quarterback system would look like. It usually is a good idea to find any possibly way to utilize talent, but within such delicate circumstances, there’s no need to force the issue. Iowa will be just fine relying on Rudock as its only quarterback this season.